The Quick Departure
by Darkravensflight
Summary: One-Shot. Rogue/Gambit. Gambit loses someone close to him.


**Hey everybody, this is a sad one-shot I wrote about a week or so ago when I was in a funk, this is the one-shot that I put the hints up on my profile but I hope y'all enjoy!**

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING!**

The Quick Departure.

A cold bitter morning in Westchester, NY students were playing in the powder like snow outside of their school. The Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters, a school for people who are different from You and I. The students at this school a gifted with supernatural powers, they are called mutants, some you couldn't tell were mutants and others... Well, let's just say their gifts are very easy to see.

On this particular morning, Christmas eve, a number of the faculty are setting up the very last touches for this joyous holiday mistletoe and holly were hanging on doorways. A woman wearing a grey sweater, blue skinny jeans, a pair of grey knee length boots, was currently decorating a Christmas tree. She had brown hair, which was currently pulled up in a ponytail, and shocking white streaks which framed her face perfectly Her eye's so green, they rivaled an emerald. At least, that's how Gambit saw her, he had nape length auburn hair, tan skin from being in the Louisiana bayou, and he wore a long sleeved t-shirt, a pair of old blue jeans, and ankle length boots. His red on black eye's stared at her backside as she reached high up to put an ornament on the tree. Her name was Rogue, her real name unknown to most of the X-men, was probably the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He felt someone shove past him and grumble, 'Eye's up, Gumbo' Gambit rolled his eye's.

" You didn't even know what I was looking at Wolverine." Gambit crossed his arms over his chest, Wolverine was almost Gambit's height, he had black hair that seemed to stand up at the ends, he had blue eye's which glared at Gambit slightly, and he might as well be Rogue's surrogate father.

" It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what's going through your head." Wolverine, who almost alway's was called Logan, replied as he set down another box of decorations. Gambit put a hand over his heart and feigned being offended.

" You wound and offend me, I have a lot more going through my head than just staring at Rogue's backside. Which is what you claim to have caught me doing." He said, Rogue climbed down the ladder and she walked over to Gambit.

" As I recall, most of Logan's assumptions turn out to be true." She smiled slightly and Gambit rolled his eye's.

" Well you know what they when you assume. It make's an ass out of you and me." Gambit replied with a smirk, Logan growled slightly.

" I don't like being annoyed during vacation Gumbo, best to remember that." Logan walked away and it was only Gambit and Rogue. She began playing with a loose thread on her glove, her mutant power was to absorb anyone she has skin-to-skin contact with. She's been working with the Professor on controlling her powers, it's a slow and steady process but any improvement is good improvement.

" So what do you want for Christmas chére?" He asked as Rogue went to open another box of decorations, she shook her head as she looked up at him.

" Nothing."

" Nothing?" Gambit blinked, he walked over to her and, as she stood up, he wrapped his arms around her waist and she looked up at him.

" Everytime someone say's they want nothing they secretly want something." He stated matter-of-factly, Rogue sighed and shook her head sadly.

" Not this time sugah." Rogue said sadly as she pulled herself out of his arms and she walked back over to the tree and was finishing putting the ornaments on it.

" Besides, it's Christmas eve, the stores are all closed." She spun around quickly and pointed a finger at Remy, who had a look she knew all too well on his face, " Oh no, don't you go getting idea's now Cajun!"

Remy chuckled slightly, " Oh you never let me have any fun!" He joked in a whiny voice, Rogue scoffed slightly.

" I do let you have fun, it's called helping me finish decorating this tree." She shoved a small box of tensile into his arms and he shook his head. Soon the whole tree was decorated, they didn't put the tree topper on yet, soon Jean had called them for dinner. All the students and X-men were seated for dinner but were a little wary, Jean wasn't the best cook in the mansion Rogue poked, what looked like a piece of turkey, with her fork she was afraid it might bite her.

" Oh Rogue, stop playing with your food and just eat." Jean said, eating her food, Rogue glanced over at Remy. He was barely touching his food as well, but she relented and grabbed the turkey that was on her plate and she took a small bite, she instantly regretted it. It was dry, tasted like a mix of burnt paper and ash. She swallowed it and tried her hardest not to grimace, she forced a smile on her face.

" It's... Good Jean." Rogue lied, Jean smiled at her and nodded.

" Thank you, and see you didn't want to try it." Jean said as she ate more of her dinner, Rogue grabbed the turkey piece and she pretended to eat it while actually throwing it on the napkin that was on her lap. Gambit watched what Rogue was doing and he followed suit, he liked Jean, just, not her cooking.

Everyone began heading to bed, Rogue walked up the stairs and went toward her room when she felt someone grab her gently by the shoulder. She turned around to see Remy holding something behind his back, her eye's narrowed.

" What's behind your back?" Rogue asked suspiciously, Gambit had a mischievous smirk on his face.

" Close your eye's." He ordered and Rogue rolled her eye's.

" Remy-" she started.

" Just do as I ask, please."

" Fine." She closed her eye's, Gambit made sure they were closed before moving his arm out from behind his back, he than put a gloved hand over her mouth and he planted a small kiss on the back of his hand.

Rogue's eye's shot open when Gambit put a hand over her mouth, but when she saw the mistletoe above her head and relaxed a bit, she kissed his hand and she pulled away and smiled.

" Merry Christmas Rogue."

" Merry Christmas Gambit."

Christmas Morning:

Every kid in the X-Mansion had ran down the steps early in the morning, the adults on the other hand, were a little slower at moving about. All the kids were in the rec room, surrounding the tree, gifts were being passed around, unwrapped, and exchanged. Gambit sat down in the unoccupied leather chair, Rogue came over and she sat down in his lap, she was covered head-to-toe so she wouldn't accidentally absorb anyone. She had Gambit were handed quite a bit of presents. There was a thin envelope on the very top of her pile, she picked it up and saw the address was from Mississippi. She opened it up to see a letter and a ticket she frowned and read the letter.

"_Dear_ _Rogue,_

_I know we haven't talked in a while -and I'm sorry for that- It was almost impossible to find you, but anyway I thought you'd like to know your father's birthday is tomorrow and it'd be really nice if you could surprise him. I've already bought you a train ticket so you wouldn't have to worry about that if you decided to come._

_Hope to see you soon!_

_Mom"_

Rogue blinked, this was the first time she had heard from her mother in quite a while, she hadn't forgotten hr father's birthday was tomorrow. She put the letter and ticket back in the envelope, Gambit looked at her and frowned slightly.

" What's wrong chére?"

" My mom sent me a letter and a train ticket, reminding me it was my dad's birthday tomorrow, and she hoped I'd go down to Mississippi and surprise him." Rogue sighed, she didn't even know if her father would want to see her after she ran away, Gambit looked at her.

" Do you want to see your family?" He asked and she shrugged.

" I don't know, I owe them an explanation for running away, but, to me, y'all are my true family." She said as the sea of teachers and students began to head toward the kitchen for breakfast.

" Well, you still have 'till tomorrow right? Why don't you think about it over breakfast." He suggested and Rogue nodded, she and Gambit stood up and walked into the kitchen.

Rogue was playing with her food instead of eating it, her mind was just somewhere else, she really wanted to see her family but was hesitant because for all she knew they were going to humiliate her or something. She finished her cinnamon roll and she walked out of the dining room, she found The Professor sitting by the Christmas tree with the X-men, he turned his chair around and frowned slightly.

" Is something wrong Rogue?" Rogue shook her head.

" I was just wondering if I could take some personal time?" The Professor folded his hands in his lap.

" For how long?" Asked he, Rogue looked thoughtful for a moment before saying.

" Three-Four days, tops." The professor nodded.

" I guess that's okay, may I ask where you're going?"

" I'm going down to Mississippi, my mom asked if I could go down for my dad's birthday to surprise him." Rogue said and the Professor nodded, Rogue grabbed her gifts and she went upstairs to put them in her room. She had just realized, the train ride would take a little less than 24 hours, so if she wanted to get there in time she would have to leave soon. She pulled out her duffel bag, and she began putting her clothes in it when someone knocked on her door she turned around to see Gambit leaning against the door frame his arms were crossed.

" Leaving so soon chére?" He asked walking inside the room, Rogue nodded as she zipped the bag up.

" If I want to get there in time, I'll have to leave today." She looked over at him and grabbed her bag.

" Do you want me to come with you?" Asked Gambit as he followed Rogue out of the room, she turned around to look at him again.

" Nah, I'll be okay." She said as she walked down the stairs and toward the garage, she saw Storm and Logan standing by the garage door and she frowned.

" How'd-?" She started but shook her head. " Damn telepaths." She mumbled under her breath, Storm laughed softly while Logan and Gambit chuckled. She walked past them and into the garage, the four of them got into one of the SUV's and headed toward the train station.

They walked inside the station and there was a lot of people coming and going, she looked at her ticket a saw the train number was 206 and she saw that particular train was to arrive in five minutes she turned around to look at her friends.

" Do y'all think I'm doing the right thing? By going to see them?" She asked nervously, her heart was racing a bit and she had butterflies in her stomach.

" Do you think it's the right thing?" Logan asked and Rogue shrugged slightly.

" If anything should happen we'll be there faster than you can say y'all." Storm assured her, Rogue couldn't help but smile as she nodded. She heard the train come into the station and she turned toward Remy as all the people began to get off the train.

" Y'know I might've just changed my mind about you not coming with me." She whispered nervously as she wrapped her arms around Gambit in a tight hug, she felt him rumble with quiet laughter.

" I think it's to late for that mon chére." He sighed and pulled back a little to look at her. " I want you to call me when you get to the train station, and when you get to the hotel 'kay?" He added seriously and Rogue nodded.

" I promise, you'll be getting quite a bit of calls from moi." She laughed, Gambit smiled as he reluctantly pulled away from her she saw people boarding the train. She put her hand over Gambit's lips and she kissed the back of her hand, she hugged Storm and Logan, than she ran to the train and she jumped on it. Logan, Storm, and Gambit all walked onto the platform as the train began to slowly leave the station, they saw Rogue stick her head and one arm out the open window and she waved goodbye to them and they waved back, the three of them stood there until the train turned a corner and was out of sight. They headed back to the car and went back to the mansion.

* * *

An Hour Later:

The drive back was quite, there was a knot in Gambit's stomach he wasn't sure if it was because he was nervous for Rogue, or because something very bad was about to happen. They parked the car in the garage and they walked inside, the mansion seemed to be empty, they began walking to the rec room when Kitty came running to them, the worry was evident in her eye's.

" Kitten, whatever's the matter?" Storm asked as she put her hands on Kitty's shoulders.

" Y-You didn't hear?" She asked they shook their heads and she grabbed Storm's hand and dragged her to the rec room, where everyone was gathered around the tv, the room felt solemn.

Gambit looked at the news report, the reporter was wearing a business suit and she had short blonde hair and glasses, she was talking about an accident.

" Currently there is no confirmed death toll, but it is estimated that there was around 200 people on the train at the time of the crash, the police are currently being tight lipped about the situation." The mansions phone rang and Storm went to answer it. Gambit looked over at Kitty.

" Where was this accident petite?" He asked, his mouth dry and his hands began to sweat slightly, Kitty looked at him.

" Just outside of Salem." Said Kitty, a lump formed in the middle of his throat.

" Did they say the train number?" He asked and Kitty shook her head. The news report came back on after a few minutes, they were saying the same thing as before but with a little more information.

" The police are giving a press conference in a few minutes they will be releasing the train number and what has caused this accident." She said and a couple of minutes later the chief of police came onto the screen.

" Good afternoon and Merry Christmas, around 12:48 p.m. Train 206 from Salem, Massachusetts to Meridian, Mississippi, was attacked by a group of rebellious mutants looking to-." It began to rain, heavily, and Gambit turned to see Storm walk into the room, her face was hard but Gambit could see the slight sadness in her eye's. The news program was forgotten and all eye's turned toward her direction.

" 'Ro?" Logan asked, walking over to her she cleared her throat slightly.

" That was the police station," The rain outside got heavier and the sky got darker. " They told me they recovered Rogue's body."

* * *

County Corner:

Gambit followed the Medical examiner to the morgue, when Storm told him they found Rogue's body everything stopped, he couldn't -wouldn't- believe it. The M.E. walked into the morgue and he walked in front of a bunch of freezers, he opened one of them and pulled the metal slab out, a thin white sheet covered the persons body. When the Medical examiner pulled the sheet off of the corpses face and Gambit's heart jumped into his throat. It was Rogue, even in death, she was still as beautiful as ever. Her lips were pale and blue, her usually sun kissed skin was as pale as ice, her hair usually wild and feisty attitude was non-existent. A storm began to rage outside and the M.E. jumped.

" I uh I'm just going to give you all some time." He walked out of the morgue and Gambit blinked.

" This can't be her, this has to be an imposter." He said, more to himself than to anyone else, he looked over at Logan.

" Please, I'm begging you Wolverine, tell me this isn't her." He pleaded, Logan looked over at him, sadness in his eye's.

" I wish I could Gambit, I really do."

* * *

The next few day's passed by in a blur, everyone in the mansion was in mourning the one's that took it the hardest were Logan and Remy. Both never really got along unless it came to Rogue, Gambit was sitting in a lounge chair as Wolverine sat on the couch, Rogue's funeral had just ended and Gambit wanted to tune out what everyone was saying for two reasons, first was no one was going to see him cry, it would ruin he reputation, second, it would just make him miss her more. He stood up, a glass of bourbon in his hand, and he walked up the stairs and toward his room.

Gambit walked into his room, closed the door behind him, and he sat down on his bed he finished his bourbon and put the glass on the table when he heard a small 'click' and he quickly spun around to see Rogue smiling at him. She was wearing a flowing green dress, no gloves, Gambit walked up to her in complete shock. Rogue put a hand to his face and she frowned slightly.

" What's the matter sugah? Not happy to see me?" She asked, Gambit smiled at her.

" I'm alway's happy to see ya chére, just surprised me is all." He said leaning his head against hers, he wasn't really concerned about her absorbing him.

" I've only gotta minute," his eye's went sad for a moment " But I think a minutes enough." She grabbed his hand and lead him over to the bed and they sat down.

" Now tell me, what's wrong?" Gambit sighed.

" Where'd ya want me to start?"

" Wherever you want to."

" How did you... die?" He swallowed slightly, she sighed.

" These mutants thought they were going to attack the train full of people, they had a bomb planted in the back of the train. So when they jumped onto the train I made sure everyone was at the front end of it, I had taken a few out when they told me about the bomb. I went to disarm it but, it was too late." She closed her eye's and Gambit swallowed the lump in his throat.

" I didn't-." He started but Rogue cut him off.

" I know, it's okay I've gotten used to the idea of being dead." She laughed and Gambit nodded sadly.

" Y'know Logan's taking it pretty hard too." Said Gambit and Rogue looked at her lap as she nodded sadly.

" Yeah I know, but I've already talked to him." She smiled as she leaned her head against his and she put both hands on either side of his face.

" I think our minutes up." She whispered and he shook his head.

" No no, I," he sighed quietly " I should've gone with you but I was too stupid and even if I had gone I still might've failed to protect-." Rogue put a finger on his lips.

" Shh, you don't need to blame yourself, love, things happen for a reason right?" She kissed him lightly on the lips before slowly fading away, once she was gone Gambit heard a faint whisper.

" I'll alway's be with you." Suddenly, his room door opened and in walked Logan.

" I'm assuming you saw her too." Gambit nodded.

" What'd she say?"

" She told me to take care of you and to make sure your Cajun behind doesn't get too reckless." A smile tugged on Logan's lips and Gambit chuckled.

" She know's I ain't reckless." Logan shook his head, Jubilee walked past the door and frowned.

" You okay Gambit?" Worry was in her voice and Gambit truly smiled for the first time in two weeks.

" Yeah petite, I think I am."

**I was going to add the funeral but who knows, maybe I'll make this a two shot, I hope y'all liked it and please don't forget to tell me what y'all thought, anyway thanks for reading!**


End file.
